Possible Anthrax Hoaxes Probed

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday that it has opened criminal investigations into more than half a dozen anthrax scares that detectives suspect were hoaxes, including one Friday that shut down court operations for hours and cost about $100,000 for staffing.

Officials would disclose details only of that one suspected hoax, in which a letter and envelope containing white powder were sent to the county’s social services office at the Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange. The substance turned out to be a mixture of sugar and coffee creamer, and there are no suspects in the case.

“It’s a crime, and it’s despicable in light of everything that has happened,” said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jim Amormino. “It may be tough to find these people, but in some cases, we’re confident we’ll find who is responsible. We’re treating each call seriously, and we’ll prosecute anyone who is calling in one of these as a hoax.”

Orange County’s 911 dispatch center has received more than 100 calls since Sept. 11 alerting authorities to possible tainted letters and other substances that callers considered suspicious.

Although only a fraction of the cases appear to be deliberate hoaxes, authorities said they are being increasingly burdened by even legitimate calls.

On Tuesday, parts of Santa Ana’s Civic Center were shut down by two separate incidents. First, three suspicious letters sent to IRS offices in Los Angeles were transported to Santa Ana, where hazardous-materials crews tested them and determined the substance to be harmless. Then the Sheriff’s Department was evacuated after someone noticed white powder on a box containing uniforms. Nothing harmful was found there either, but the incidents left some officials shaking their heads.

“This is crazy,” said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Baltazar De La Riva, sighing as a firetruck sped around the block toward the Sheriff’s Department. “We had a woman call in on Saturday because she went outside and she saw a cloud that she thought looked strange.”

Santa Ana Fire Capt. Randy Black said his department aggressively responds to any possible bioterrorism threat but urged residents to “use some common sense. . . . Let’s all just try to remain calm.”

In response to a flood of calls over the weekend, including a report of white powder at Disney’s California Adventure, Anaheim police have created some guidelines on how they handle such incidents. For example, the Police Department discourages people from bringing mail to its headquarters if the only thing that makes it suspicious is no return address.

“We ask [callers] to describe the envelope . . . and if it does not appear that there is anything suspicious other than the fact that it doesn’t have a return address, we will advise the person to return the mail to the post office or throw it away,” said Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez.

Officials across the county said they don’t believe that public safety has been threatened so far by the deluge of calls. But they said the chances of problems increase along with the number of calls.

In Santa Ana, low-priority calls to police about car theft and burglary “have to be held longer than they normally would be” as officers respond to the crush of suspicious-letter calls, said De La Riva.

“What concerns us is if you have something like that happen, then you have a major traffic accident and maybe another major incident, you’re not going to be able to respond in as timely a manner as you would like,” said Lt. Chuck Thomas of the Huntington Beach Police Department. “There comes a time when you say, ‘How can we respond as thoroughly as we’d like to when you have a vast majority of these things occurring?’ ”

While emergency workers are busy handling calls, detectives are trying to determine which ones are hoaxes or practical jokes.

Irvine police used a polygraph test on a man who found white powder under his desk at QuickStart Technologies last week. Detectives believe that case was legitimate and not a hoax, said the department’s chief, Michael Berkow.

The FBI’s Los Angeles office Tuesday was conducting two criminal investigations into suspected deliberate scares, though officials wouldn’t provide details.

FBI spokesman Matthew McLaughlin said those who deliberately call in such a report, mail a suspicious package or in any other way commit a “threatened use of weapons of mass destruction” hoax could face life in prison. They also can be ordered to pay restitution for lost business and for costs incurred by police, fire and other emergency personnel.

“It’s not only morally wrong but dangerous to America,” McLaughlin said. He said that when agents are forced to investigate such hoaxes, it means less time they can devote to genuine possible terrorist threats.